Match Preview: Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion; Premier League Match Day 7
The big red wave continues to roll on. This weekend Arsenal take their impressive start to the season on the road (again) to the Hawthorns, where Steve Clarke’s charges are still floating after the historic win over United.
The two questions that pop immediately to mind are:
- Can Arsenal keep doing this?
- Can West Brom build on their win over United?
For the first question we keep asking that week over week. The last time it was asked were in the midweek Champion’s League tie when Napoli “our biggest test of the season,” came to the Emirates and were dismantled before the clock hit the 17 minute mark.
With Napoli looking to catch Arsenal on the counter they ceded control of the ball to Arsenal, something that if given enough time and space, Arsenal will gladly accept and as Napoli found out – punish you for it.
Where Arsenal really make you pay for it is in the middle of the pitch. A lot of question marks were raised about Wenger’s overstocking the midfield but it’s a gambit that has given him a wealth talent with which to control a game. It’s hard to put any one player out there in a dedicated position as every player save for Flamini, with his DM role firmly entrenched, are fluid and interchangeable.
Again using the Napoli example, Özil’s goal comes in from his playing the far wide left position with his assist on the Giroud goal from his coming in on the right. To give him a dedicated position is impossible as it is for all of the Arsenal midfielders.
This fluidity gives them the best chance to create chances and find space while the opposition adjusts to defend and track. Certainly as adjustments are made in the course of a match, players like Özil, Ramseym Arteta, Wilshere and others will create space and opportunities for themselves with this constant movement.
If Arsenal can continue this trend of midfield dominance over an opponent there is no reason why the winning ways can’t go on. They are playing with confidence and as each match is played the belief they can keep the run going only builds further. What is the old saying – 90% of sports are mental? Well, if true then Arsenal are doing a better job on the mental stuff then they’ve done in a long while.
It looks like that after years of trial and tribulation Arsene has found the right mix of youth and experience to launch Arsenal on to glory again. And it is a testament to finding that right mix that it is both the youth AND experience that is paying in spades right now.
Pick a name for the Starting XI and their role can be examined as being instrumental on this run. Giroud? Knocking in them with ease. Ramsey? From another freaking planet. Flamini? Who’d have thought that we got the 2008 version back? The point is from every across the pitch contributions are being made and it isn’t one or the other – it’s everyone and for the first time in a long time it’s working.
About West Brom? Based on their win over United, they were the feel good story of the week last week. And while I think they are a side to remain cautious of, I do not feel that this could be the banana peel we are waiting for.
Sure United lost but remember that this is a United side finding it difficult to score – even with Robin Van Persie in the lineup. They still don’t have a goal from open play since the first day of the season. The two goals from West Brom weren’t exactly from being outplayed rather than Rio Ferdinand showing two prime examples why he is in a decline. A Ferdinand in his prime doesn’t make the mistakes that lead to those goals.
It’s not to take anything away from West Brom’s win. They never backed off. But before the goals it had a very draw like feel to it from both sides.
Additionally, with Anichebe facing a late test, the 20-year old game winner Berahino could be the only striking option available to West Brom. And it’s not like they’ve been scoring in huge bunches.
Finally, out of the 3 matches played at the Hawthorns this season, West Brom have only won one. That win was a 3-0 win over the hapless Sunderland squad.
I am always cautious. I know that we can slip up at any moment. It could happen today. But for me this isn’t the one.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal. Mesut Özil. Yeah it’s easy to pick him. But can you blame me? The man is everything and more you could’ve hoped for. And he is still growing into the league. Wow.
West Brom. Morgan Amilfitano. The former Marseille man seems to be finding the Premier League to his liking.
Projected Lineup:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Diaby (knee), Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee) Podolski (hamstring) Sagna (hamstring), Walcott (stomach)
West Brom: Brunt (groin), Vydra, Gera (both hamstring), Thorne (knee), Foster (foot), Sinclair (hamstring), Anichebe (groin – late fitness test), Long (knee – late fitness test), Anelka (foot – late fitness test)
Last Meeting (EPL):
Arsenal: 2
West Brom: 1
Leading Scorer:
Arsenal: Giroud 4, Ramsey 4
West Brom: Amalfitano 2
Assists:
Arsenal: Özil 4
West Brom: Amalfitano 1, Brunt 1, Anichebe 1, Mulumbu 1
Last 5:
Arsenal: WWWWW
West Brom: DLDWW
Goals For:
Arsenal (away): 2.7
West Brom (home): 1
Goals Against:
Arsenal (away): 1
West Brom (home) : 1
Goal Differential:
Arsenal: 6
West Brom: 1
Match Official:
Referee: Lee Mason (Matches: 3. R1 Y11)
Assistants: Ledger, Perry
Fourth Official: Moss
Broadcast Information:
US: NBCSN: 11:00 AM
UK: Sky Sports 1: 16.00 GMT
GAMEDAY CHAT (IS BACK!!!!!! – but it’s in BETA)
To participate in our new GameDay chat – click here. We’re still working out some kinks but the framework is there. The rules are simple:
1. Profanity is allowed however, respect for your fellow chatters is a must or you will be banned
2. No sharing of streams
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3
West Brom: 1
9 comments
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
for all you old-timers… absolute chaos going on regarding the old Arsenal America!
It seems like they’ve been collecting $25 dues for years, and people were getting nothing and no info… no transparency… they were just picking friends as officers, and nobody knows anything…
this is supposed to be the ARSNEAL FC Liason to US Supporters!!
It’s all on Facebook now, if you look up Arsenal American on there, and see the melee that’s going down…
It seems we were right all along… and I’m very happy that DAG started this site, in part from the fall out that occurred over at AA.
Wow, I haven’t been back to that site since the booted all the commenters. there didn’t seem to be much reason to do so unless you wanted tickets to a game which you can get pretty handily without going through them. I too am glad DAG did his own thing although it seems that there are a number of others who did so as well (Danny T and Timmy the Tooth come to mind).
i just looked up fran merida. this kid is playing in brazil for a club called atletico paranaese. apparently, it took him 9 months just to get into the team. what the hell is “the next fabregas” doing playing for some little-known club in brazil?
rosicky has pulled out of the czech republic squad for “health reasons”. it will take a miracle for them to qualify for the world cup. if he wants to stay at arsenal, he needs to go ahead and retire from international football. bergkamp had already retired before he turned 33.
özil keeps receiving plaudits from his old team mates with sami khedira declaring arsenal are the best team in the league with the addition of his former team mate. that’s flattering and i certainly hope it’s true. we’ll see.
Josh if you want to read more about Ozil here are two excellent and really interesting Michael Cox articles about him. Basically he says that there are some smart stats people out there who think that the next big football statistic will have to do with off-the-ball movement and finding open space. And Ozil is arguably the best in the world at that. He has a very high football IQ, and even though he plays basically the same role for Arsenal that Cesc did, he is more effective in that role b/c he is better at finding space. In some teams the two would arguably be equally effective. But in a Wenger team where you often find central players being deployed out wide, there is a tendency for all attacking players on the pitch to want to drift in. With Cesc this meant everyone crowded around him and clogged the middle of the park, making Arsenal very predictable. But Ozil is very good at moving elsewhere in an effective manner when other players drift to where he “normally” would be (except that he has no normal spot), making Arsenal very fluid with better spacing.
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/tacticsandanalysis/id/1828?cc=5901
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2013/10/01/arsenal-2-0-napoli-arsenal-win-the-game-early-by-attacking-down-the-right-flank/
I think 1-1 was a fair result today. We got behind for the first time all year in the league… and at least we came back and got a point. WBA is not a bad team, and I think they’ll do very well at home this season, and that form should keep them mid-table for sure.
We aren’t going to win every match, and not losing … in an instance where we could have dropped all 3 points, is not a bad result.
Josh, I don’t think Wilshire played that poorly… was it his best match? no, for sure, but he
gives that massive effort all the time… the will to win and will to go all match long is a major positive. Flamini has that same type of engine… going with maximum effort all the time.
It is hard not to appreciate this current team and the way they fight all the way through.
trust me, brother, i do appreciate the way this team fights. however, wilshere was absolutely horrible yesterday, especially in the first half. every time the team tried to establish a rhythm, wilshere upset it by giving the ball away. if i didn’t know better, i would say west brom targeted wilshere. maybe he lost his nerve because of the fans chanting about his smoking.
i challenge you to watch the first half again. it was jack’s worst performance since that cup game in 2010 when he and fran merida were dominated by the west ham duo of scott parker and valon behrami.
this is not a condemnation. all players, especially young guys, have bad games from time to time. i’m just saying yesterday’s performance from wilshere seemed to undermine arsenal’s chance to win. jack will continue to fight. at least he didn’t quit after getting his ass kicked like merida did. where is fran merdia?
well, seems i got that wrong as jack scored a goal. i still think he had a poor game. while it would have been nice to win again, a draw is a very fair result.
arsenal down 1-0 @ halftime. wilshere has absolutely stunk up the place, continually giving the ball away not to mention the yellow card. i would pull him at halftime for rosicky. the team can’t establish an attacking rhythm because wilshere has been that bad today. maybe the english media hype is getting to him; that and the smoking incident. we’ll see.
Good analysis. But I think Arteta will probably wear the captain’s armband.